About jazzinotes
jazzinotes is a reaction to a deficiency in the music industry. Sheet music in the pop/rock/jazz business has in many ways left much to be desired. Sometimes it seems to be like wallflower:
1. Sheet music has for a long time been considered a bit old fashioned, and as such has been neglected by major publishers of sheet music or even outsourced to outside companies. This has led to the fact that even for many popular songs there is either no sheet music in existence or the only sheet music available isn’t suited for practical use. This brings us to the next point.
2. The most common form of sheet music available for purchase in shops is found in songbooks in the form PVG, or Piano-Vocal-Guitar. Such sheet music is comprised of three systems: voice, piano (right hand) and piano (left hand). However, the piano parts have often little to do with what can be heard on the original recordings. The right hand often doubles the vocal part, resulting in something hardly recognizable when compared to the original.
Even for instrumental music, you often can’t find sheet music which really reflects the original recordings.
jazzinotes wishes to address this situation by offering sheet music which either directly transcribes the original recording (called Note-for-Note), or as original compositions reflecting the exact ideas of the composer, or as arrangements sufficient to meet the practical demands of music-making. As such, the name ‘jazzinotes’ has a double-meaning: Jazz-in-notes and Jazzy-notes!
The quality of the jazzinotes sheet music is extremely high. That's why we are able to offer the jazzinotes guarantee.
Although the focus of jazzinotes is Jazz, many other genres are also represented. jazzinotes’ repertoire grows larger with every month, so it’s worthwhile to check in regularly to see what’s new! You can also receive information about new releases by signing up for our newsletter. Your subscription can be cancelled at any time.
THE INTERPRETER
When sheet music is corresponding to the original recording, the interpreter (artist) on the recording should be of central importance. However, in the sheet music industry, according to international law, only the composer and lyricist are entitled to royalties. The interpreters are completely left out. jazzinotes intended to change this by paying royalties to the interpreters, too: at first 3%, then an additional 1% after every profitable year until it reaches a percentage of at least 7% (which is also the standard value given to authors of books in the publishing industry). But the effort for the jazzinotes administration to do this was enourmous and the sums to pay low. And most of the interpreters didn't answer to our requests for their account relationship. 2018 we had to accept that we couldn't fight against this unjustice as a small company and gave up our first idea. But the problem is still virulent and needs to be discussed. If you have any ideas: please contact us.
WHO IS JAZZINOTES?
jazzinotes is a very small company: a one man business.
Born in 1960 in Bern, Paul Riggenbach came to master his craft through these defining periods of his musical journey: First as a music teacher. Then as a copyist and arranger, and later as a career pianist and composer. His theoretical background includes a PhD in Musicology, which spawned several publications of his work in a series of educational releases published by ‘Odradec’.
But, having contributed tirelessly and
brilliantly to its ongoing success over the years, there are several
people and entities behind the production and distribution of jazzinotes.
THE HISTORY OF JAZZINOTES
Jazzinotes was founded as a GbR (German Civil Code) in 2011 and expanded to a GmbH (limited liability company) in 2012. We have learned to focus on our core competencies: creating high-quality transcriptions, arrangements, and compositions, which we offer for download in our online shop – including almost exclusively our own productions with a focus on downloadable sheet music. In the following years, our sales territory expanded beyond the German-speaking countries with the addition of the English-language shop. The share of sales outside Germany has increased year after year and exceeded half of sales for the first time in 2024.
The story of jazzinotes continues. Time and again, there are innovations and changes in the sheet music market that force jazzinotes to make radical changes (e.g., the online shop had to be completely rebuilt in 2021) – while simultaneously opening up unimagined new opportunities. The internet, with all its legal, technical, and political concomitant factors on which the success of jazzinotes with its predominantly digital products depends, is changing rapidly. Perhaps you have suggestions or feedback? These are always welcome! By the way, we are interested in further joint ventures. Don't hesitate to contact us. If you have any ideas, write to us at info@jazzinotes.com.